A Plane Crash at Gainesville Regional Airport? No, Just a Simulation

GAINESVILLE - A plane didn't crash at the Gainesville Regional Airport this morning...but it did look like one had.

24 agencies across the city and county participated in a live practice drill today.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to conduct these mass casualty simulations every three years.

And this year for the first time, the airport practiced a new way a new way of spreading the word.

Laura Aguiar, Gainesville Regional Airport: "We actually did a #gnvdrill on Twitter because my thought is the walking wounded...the people who were not very wounded would be posting and tweeting and getting on Facebook and taking pictures from the accident scene and of course thats how the media finds out about things that way now."

The people who acted as the wounded were Santa Fe College EMT and paramedic students.

Many of them tell us that today they were given a chance to see what life was like as the patient.